FFA trio takes awards at nationals

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Three Seminole students took honors at the national FFA convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Oct. 22-26. Those three were were junior Madison Carter, senior Carlye Winfrey and 2018 graduate Megan Letkeman.

Carter qualified as a Stephenville member and competed in the agriscience division for social sciences with her partner, Guthri Jenschke of Stephenville. They did a survey over consumers’ perspectives over organic and nonorganic foods. The pair continued on from round to round, having to submit a report and be interviewed over their topic. The duo placed third at nationals.

“Our project took forever, and we worked all year on it. It is very hard to learn statistics, and agriscience is hard in general,” Carter said. “So just getting to see all the hard work pay off was great. When we learned that we won state, we tried to play it cool, but we were just so excited.”

Winfrey competed in job interview and employment skills. She had to choose a occupation and create a resume, submit a job description, as well as a cover letter. Then she went through several interviews, some networking, and negotiated time off and salary. Both the interviews and competition got harder as she progressed; nonetheless, Winfrey placed first at nationals.

“I was very surprised because job interview is very subjective at every single level,” Winfrey said. “It was just a matter of being extremely prepared by practicing a lot. You also have to have a little luck on your side as well, and hope the judges like your personality and style as you go into every interview. It was very exciting and also fun as I got to keep advancing.”

Letkeman worked at a veterinary clinic, and she kept records on expenses and how much she made and took photos of her work. She then had to fill out an application with all of her information. At each level the judges reviewed her records and pictures as well as interviewed her. She placed placed 1st in the Veterinary Science division.

Once a competitor goes to nationals, they can not return again in that event. Because of this, the next step for both Carter and Winfrey is slightly different.

“This year I will expand on the study so I will use the same project, but in a different division.” Carter said. “I had a partner in the division that I was previously, but this year I will be alone, which moves me to division five.”